In an ever increasing consumer society, the need to provide packaging and containers to contain, transport and/or store a variety of items remains an important requirement. Over time, a variety of solutions have been proposed for this satisfying this requirement, with varying degrees of success.
In this regard, cardboard boxes have proven to be a popular form of packaging for a variety of reasons. Cardboard can be created relatively cheaply and can be simply formed into blanks that are able to be stored and transported in a flat form and simply folded to form a box as desired. Cardboard boxes can be made to a variety of sizes and can be reinforced as required through the use of tape or stables to withstand a degree of force. However, due to the nature of cardboard it has limited durability and can be particularly susceptible to failure when exposed to liquids impact and other types of treatment which can cause the cardboard boxes to fail and lose structural integrity.
With the widespread acceptance of plastic materials, such as expandable polystyrene (EPS), the ability to utilise these materials and their inherent properties to provide improved containers has been realised. EPS boxes have a particular application for the storage and transport of perishable materials, such as agricultural and horticultural products, as they are largely impermeable and as such provide an environment for storing items which can be temperature regulated as retained in a gas-tight or water-tight state. Due to the nature of EPS, boxes formed from EPS also have a degree of shock and impact resistance which provides protection to the materials stored or carried therein.
However, despite the various benefits that material such as EPS provide for packaging purposes, due to the manner in which EPS is formed to be expanded within a mould, most boxes or packaging formed from such materials are formed to shape as a single piece. Whilst this is useful as it ensures a dimensionally accurate final product, the resultant product occupies a volume even when empty, thereby requiring space to store when not in use and making them less economic to store and transport when empty. Thus after use, it is common for such EPS boxes to be broken down and placed in land-fill and not be reused.
A variety of systems have been proposed for making EPS boxes in a flat blank form and assembling the boxes for use. This is generally achieved through the formation of hinges in the EPS blank during the moulding process and/or by applying a compression force to the blank at predetermined regions. This method is described in more detail in the Applicant's International PCT Patent Application No. PCT/AU2010/000340.
Whilst the above methods have proven effective in enabling boxes to be assembled from a flat EPS blank, there is a need to further improve the EPS box formed in such a manner to provide improved strength and storability when not in use or when being transported in an empty form.
The above references to and descriptions of prior proposals or products are not intended to be, and are not to be construed as, statements or admissions of common general knowledge in the art. In particular, the above prior art discussion does not relate to what is commonly or well known by the person skilled in the art, but assists in the understanding of the inventive step of the present invention of which the identification of pertinent prior art proposals is but one part.